


Fictober Shorts: Time

by Lyrishadow



Series: Fictober 2020 Shorts [17]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27116116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrishadow/pseuds/Lyrishadow
Summary: Prompt17: “give me a minute or an hour”Fandom: Mass EffectTitle: TimePair: Toriah ShephardRating: TWarnings/Tags Angst
Series: Fictober 2020 Shorts [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977133
Kudos: 1





	Fictober Shorts: Time

The hospital grounds were quiet as they ushered the marine in, he was an N7 they said if anyone can handle the survivor he can. Maybe it will make sense to him with what she had been through. It would have helped to not let the patient hear the rumors or the whispers. Some of the staff had long since given up on her and were not as careful as they should have been.  
So she knew.,  
Knew they had given up on her and had called for outside help.  
Toriah huddled against the wall in the corner of her room, wishing she could return to her dark hiding spot on Mindoir and die there like the rest. At some point, she had decided that she would at least attempt to eat the things they kept asking her to eat. She didn’t want to offend people, it was a weird mix of mission and madness. Toriah knew she was a special case, that they had found no other survivors.  
That her friends, family, the good, the bad, the kind, the bully - they were all gone, in one dark night. Her feet had healed, but her mind had not. They had tried five or six times now with different counselors.  
Rumor from a patient across the hall who likes to shout things from her doorway was that they asked for a marine.  
She didn’t know if she wanted to try again.  
Maybe she was far too broken.  
Far too much of a risk.  
Maybe she should have never survived.

“Toriah Shepard?” a voice asked from the doorway, not unkind or harsh but not overly sweet, the voice was firm and demanding a reply.  
“Who is asking?” Sixteen still, she wanted to keep herself safe in the corner.  
“My name is David Anderson.” she heard the springs as the man sat on the bed “Just give me a minute or ...an hour, and I swear I will help you."  
“Why?”  
"Because I want to." He paused "I know everyone else had given up. I won’t."  
"You won’t?" her tone was bitter "what if lm too broken to be helped?"  
“I don’t believe that.” He dared a glance at her, she had her arms up to hide her face.  
“Others have said that.” she was angry and she had every right to be, the system that was supposed to help her had failed when pressure was applied. “I am not stupid, they would like to believe I am stupid but…”  
“I have seen your report card.”  
“That was from... Before…” her voice catches as she tries to explain in one word the terror, the horror she witnessed.,  
“I am sorry we didn’t rescue you sooner.”Anderson spoke with conviction “Slavers like those should not exist.”  
“I want… “ Toriah started to say to herself before, finally moving her arm from blocking his view of the girl.  
She was slight, but her chin was set in the most spectacular stubborn display he had seen even among Alliance recruits. Her eyes clear and wide blue, her hair a shocking red.  
He hoped the story he had been told was true:  
"What do you want to be?  
"Want.. to be?"  
"You must have dreams."  
" Yes.." she sounded confused " but you are the first person to ask me."  
"Well?"  
"To be a marine. To join the Alliance and stop this happening to anyone else. To never be weak again.”  
" I see.”He said turning to look at the girl for the first time. She looked pale but determined. He reached out a hand and helped her to her feet.  
" it will take a lot of work." He warned but she shrugged.  
"I will do it. Whatever I have to." She knew already that to be able to claw back the insanity, to be able to sleep at night was going to take work. She had just not met anyone willing to walk through the  
“Just give me the time and I will do what I can.”Anderson nodded, he would need all his N7 training, and experience to help this girl get on her feet, but he could see a future where she was healthy and strong, a survivor.


End file.
